Here is Part 4 of my FAQ series. Today I will focus on the role of the communist movement in capitalist and socialist society and discuss the different theories regarding the development and spread of socialist revolution with an emphasis on the Theory of Permanent Revolution as advanced by Leon Trotsky and Socialism in One Country as advocated by Joseph Stalin. This particular FAQ is also focused on many aspects of the Leninist trend of thought in Marxism of which Leninism is but one of many trends.
Before I go on I feel I must say a few things about Stalin because many people hear his name and immediately dismiss anything he may have done or said. Yes, Stalin was a dictator who ruled the USSR with a strong hand (although he certainly didn't lead the USSR without the help of a dedicated group of close advisers). Yes, he led a government that persecuted many political rivals to a large extent by sending them to execution or the gulag. However, we must view his actions through the lens of history. Stalin emerged as the leader of the USSR at a time when it was being challenged on an existential level by almost all of Europe's other nations and by internal threats that wanted noting better than to unravel the revolution. This led Stalin to look inside the USSR for threats that he viewed as direct challenges to the very existence of socialism in the USSR. Say what you want about Stalin's actions, but his motives were entire logical and thought out with great precision. He had solid ideological reasons for pursuing internal enemies. Strong arguments can be made that had Stalin not sought to remove those internal threats during the 1930s then the USSR may very well have surrendered in the early days of World War II due to internal conflicts. This outcome would have most likely resulted in the triumph of Hitler in that war which would have had profound consequences today. So before you go and dismiss Stalin's ideas out of hand realize that you can look at his ideas and agree with the ideas without agreeing with the actions Stalin took as a leader.
What is the role of the communist movement in capitalist society?
In a capitalist society the communist movement exists to educate the proletariat and move it towards socialist revolution. A communist movement in capitalist society takes the form of a communist political party that will act as the vanguard of the proletariat in leading the revolution. During the revolution the vanguard will lead the proletariat in the revolution as will help the proletariat to establish a socialist society.
What is meant by a "vanguard"?
The communist vanguard is an advanced group that draws the rest of the proletariat towards revolution. Because most members of the proletariat, either because of lack of education, interest, or other reasons, are not politically active then it is up to the most politically active and class-conscious members of the proletariat to be called upon to lead the other members of the proletariat. This group is not separate from the proletariat but rather emerges naturally from the alienation and societal development associated with the development of capitalism.
What is the role of the communist movement after the revolution has established socialism?
After the revolution the communist movement, in the form of the vanguard, will continue to lead society towards communism. The vanguard may take many forms at this point but it will most likely be a political party of some form that adheres to communist ideology. It will be the duty of this party and state organs to work to expand socialism, prevent the return of capitalism, and move society towards communism.
There are two main currents in modern revolutionary communism and those are the Theory of Permanent Revolution that was advanced by Leon Trotsky and Socialism in One Country as advocated by Joseph Stalin. There are numerous other theories but they are mostly associated with smaller communist groups that have not had major followings for some time.
What is the Theory of Permanent Revolution?
Permanent Revolution is the theory advanced by Leon Trotsky that states that, in short, not all capitalist societies will become advanced like the nations of Europe and North America and as such the proletariat of those countries must ally with the peasantry to lead a revolution before the full development of capitalism. I will now dissect the various parts of this theory.
The first part of the theory revolves around the idea of uneven development in capitalism. This means that some countries, because of how capitalism develops, will never see the huge productive forces that advanced capitalist societies have. Examples would be nations in Sub-Saharan Africa. These nations are exploited by capitalists mostly on the basis of their resources and so capitalists see no need to develop the industrial powers of those countries. This means that the majority of people in those countries will never be in the industrial proletariat, but rather will be peasants who work the land to produce resource.
Next the theory posits that because of this uneven development the proletariat of those countries must work to begin a socialist revolution with the peasantry because otherwise their society will never develop fully to naturally have a socialist revolution. In this situation the proletariat would initiate a bourgeois revolution to institute democracy and then proceed with a "permanent revolution" and then move directly into socialist revolution.
What are the problems with Permanent Revolution?
First, the theory splits the world up on on a very trivial basis into "developed" and "undeveloped". Most nations develop on a known trajectory from primitive communism (tribalism), slavery, feudalism, and then capitalism. Most of the world right now is in what would be the early stages of capitalism. Therefore, Trotsky saying that some nations simply will not develop proper capitalism has no factual evidence. We need only look at India and China to see that eventually all nations eventually develop industrial capitalism given enough time.
Second, the Theory does not allow for the proper development to take place and forces revolution upon societies that are not yet ready to properly implement socialism. This leads to problems like those in Vietnam where the nation in nominally socialist but, because of improper development, functions more along the lines of state capitalism where the state replaces the bourgeoisie but capitalism as the primary system is retained. This leads to a corruption of communist theory and eventually to the situation observed in China where capitalism is the order of the day but ruled under the guise of false communism.
Third, because of the problems in the second point, the proletariat should not work with the peasantry if possible because it will lead, in cases where the peasantry greatly outnumbers the proletariat, to improper development where society will focus on agricultural development over industrial development. In my view socialist revolution in unprepared societies can only be undertaken when supported from another socialist state that has properly developed socialism.
What is Socialism in One Country?
Socialism in One Country is the theory advanced by Joseph Stalin and is a retort of the Theory of Permanent Revolution. It is a theory that came into existence because of the situation that emerged in Russia following the failure of socialist revolutions in Europe following World War One. Socialism in One Country states that in the event that revolution fails to spread quickly then it is the duty of those states that establish socialism in their country to develop internally and work to spread the revolution after socialism has been established fully. Only by having a fully developed socialist base can the revolution be spread to other nations. This program of internal development and later expansion should be predicated on the condition that socialism has failed to sweep across the world in a brief period of time. Should revolution spread across the globe quickly then Socialism in One Country would not be necessary and would in fact be detrimental.
Socialism in One Country does not describe a mindset where socialism is considered victorious when only one or a few nations establish socialism. Rather it says that should the revolution fail to sweep the world quickly then those societies where socialism has been established should grow socialism internally until socialism has been victorious across the globe. Therefore victory of socialism in one country is totally separate from the total victory of socialism across the globe.
Socialism in One Country is not as rigid as Permanent Revolution because it allows for nations to develop socialism at a pace that is consistent with their own level of development. Socialist states do have a duty to spread the revolution but they are not deemed failures should they fail to spread the revolution as they would be graded under Permanent Revolution Theory. Permanent Revolution Theory also requires socialism to spread across the globe simultaneously, or roughly simultaneously, while failure to do so will result in socialist states degrading over time because of the failure of world revolution, Socialism in One Country does not have this constraint.
What are the problems with Socialism in One Country?
While I view it as the most complete theory of socialist development it is not without its flaws. First it does not always make it a goal to spread socialism at the fastest pace but is accepting of a slower, more deliberate spread of socialism and for this reason it can be seen as advocating a more complacent, less revolutionary stance on socialist development. Second, it is purely meant as a theory of necessity and as such does not have the urgency and completeness of being a universal theory. Third, the main reason that Trotskyists try to deride the theory is by claiming that Socialism in One Country is a "Stalinist" attempt to remove the revolutionary aspect from communism and while that is certainly a possible criticism I dismiss it as naive and driven by sectarianism.
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Well that is not as complete an overview as I would like but it is a basic description of the two theories.
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